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Chapter Text

George’s entire life had been about that one scholarship.

Since he’d learned how to walk, there hadn’t been a day in his life that George had spent without a ball in his hand. Whether it was a football, a basketball, a soccer ball, or sometimes a volleyball with Benjy and his friends, George spent every day as a child on one sort of court or pitch or another. 

George loved sports. He’d always known that no matter what he did when he grew up, it would be something to do with having a ball and using it to score goals.

So from the first day of high school, George put every minute of his free time into football training. He pushed and shoved not only on the astroturf, but also his way up to the main team and eventually to be one of the most formidable players on the team, and the one player every other school’s team looked out for on varsity outings.

Bruises and scratches still showed beneath his thick shoulder pads and his thigh and knee pads. Sometimes, he felt like his helmet did nothing to stop his head from hurting due to his brain being jostled around for hours at a time. Each time, he would go home with his fingers numb from clutching the ball so tightly.

Most people didn’t really understand George’s obsession with the sport and the scholarship. His closest friends, bless their hearts, never made fun of how George’s every brain cell was occupied with training every minute of every day even though they didn’t quite get it. His parents, although they sometimes worried about George’s health, were incredibly supportive and unbelievably proud whenever George shared his journey with them.

George had surrounded himself with an amazing support system by the time things got serious near the beginning of junior year. Alex had to quit the football team halfway through sophomore year due to injury, but he was always there to listen whenever George wanted to talk to him about it. Charles’s little head was always in the clouds and he never knew what was going on, but it was his support for George despite not understanding anything that motivated George like nothing else. And Pierre – Pierre made George’s life a living hell every now and then, but George genuinely didn’t know what he would do with himself if he didn’t have Pierre around to make him laugh.

All those years training so hard for one ultimate goal had given George the tendency to isolate himself from all his family and friends just so he stayed on track with his personal milestones. But they stuck by his side, and for some reason they never left him, and tried to include him in everything even though George frequently liked to train so hard he would miss all the daylight hours. George knew that was something he had to be eternally grateful for. He was convinced that without all these people, he would never have been able to get so far.

With junior year came the flurry of college preparation and applications, and George still had his eye on that prestigious scholarship, so he was overjoyed when Coach told him that a scout was going to be there for their regional playoff game. And it wasn’t just any scout. It was the scout for George’s dream school, recruiting a wide receiver specifically. Recruiting him .

He went back home and found a bunch of brochures on the UCLA website, and sat in his room by himself reading them all over and over again even though he had already seen them a thousand times before.

He told his parents, and they looked so proud of him, even though he technically hadn’t achieved anything yet. They had always supported him, even though logically he had been way too young when he’d decided to dedicate his entire life to chasing a single college scholarship and a single choice for a career for the rest of his life.

He just really, really wanted so badly to play for the UCLA Bruins that none of that mattered. George trusted everything else would fall into place once he got himself started there.

George was so excited. Even after all these years to prepare, and the two or so years in high school getting to grips with how much more dedication he had to put into it, it still all felt so new and exciting to him.

Securing the scholarship in junior year was far beyond anything George could’ve ever expected for himself.

So he rested all his hopes on that state regional game, and he waited.

*

George didn’t think he did exceptionally badly in the regional game.

He completed all his passes, managed to surprise the defense a couple of times, and almost scored a touchdown himself. On any regular day, it would’ve been enough for him to be ranked as one of the best players of the match.

Unfortunately, on that day, George didn’t seem to quite make the cut.

The next morning, after a sleepless night, George received news that the scholarship would go to the team’s senior wide receiver, Lewis.

George wasn’t as envious as he was just disappointed. It seemed too far-fetched even for him to beat one of the best players in their school to a scholarship in his junior year. He didn’t have any doubt in his ability, but the talent on his team and other teams in their class far outshadowed anything George could do to particularly stand out to any scout.

All it did was spur George to work harder for the next time a scout would be in attendance. Perhaps, next time, he would be the star.

So George kept his head down and trained.

------

When George found out the scout from UCLA was going to be at the state final again in his senior year to scout him, he tried his very best not to let it get to his head.

Charles and Alex, on the other hand, made it seem like George had already gotten the place. They made a whole big deal out of it and they brought George out for a meal after Coach told him the news and whenever George had training Charles would bring his little gaggle of cheerleading friends to cheer for him from the stands.

But the only thing that mattered to George was the big game. It was still two weeks away, but George planned to spend every minute until then pushing himself to the limit so he could put on the best performance of his life.

Sure, it was a wildcard scholarship – the school was opening it to all positions instead of just a specific position like the one George had been up for earlier, which meant that anyone who got it would likely only be a second choice for that position – but it didn’t mean any less to George as long as he got himself into that team.

He wasn’t going to let it slip out of his hands again. It was his final year playing in GW High School colours. It was his last chance.

Besides, he’d found out that the scout would also be watching the cornerback from Abraham Lincoln High School, the team they were playing in the state final and also George’s school’s biggest state rivals – which made it all the more important that George clinched the scholarship on this try.

If beating that boy to the scholarship wasn’t motivation enough, nothing else was ever going to be.

George would stay late hours on the training pitch running rounds, or at the gym with the punching bag. He tried to have regular meals, but oftentimes, Alex, Charles, or Pierre would have to physically drag him to dinner because he would lose track of time.

“George!” That evening, it was Charles who was waiting for him at the gym after his cheerleading practice next door. He waved frantically to get George’s attention. “Time for dinner.”

George sighed and pulled off his boxing gloves. He unrolled the worn out pieces of tape from around his fingers as Charles watched, his bag slung over his shoulder.

“How are you, Charlie?” he asked, draping an arm over Charles’s shoulder to pull him close as Charles giggled. “How was training? Bet it was fun.”

“Mhm. How was yours?”

“It was fine.”

“You’re too hard on yourself.” Sometimes, Charles looked at George as if George held the whole universe in his eyes. That day, he was gazing up adoringly at George as he hooked an arm around George and pulled him to dinner with the others. “I think you’re great. You need to relax.”

He was one of the most supportive, nurturing people George had ever met. He never had any idea what was going on, though, and sometimes George felt like he was kinder than he needed to be.

“If only you were the one deciding if I get into college or not,” he told Charles.

“You’d be in college already. You’d go straight there. The youngest person to ever go to college.”

George was sure he wouldn’t even come close, but he decided he wouldn’t burst Charles’s little bubble. 

Dinner was quiet on George’s end; he only spoke when Charles, Alex, or Pierre spoke to him, and at the end of the night when they were walking back home George trudged silently behind as the three of them spoke excitedly, the muscles in his legs screaming at him to stop using them.

George was the last to be dropped off before Alex got back to his house. “You have any stuff to get off your chest?” he was asked by Alex.

George had known him since they were in elementary school. Sometimes, Alex read George’s mind better than George himself.

“I just feel like I’m psyching myself out.”

“Come on.” Alex dragged George through his front door and up to George’s room. “I’ll sit with you and we can have some snacks and talk it out.”

“I’m not allowed to have snacks.” George was on a strict, albeit self-imposed, diet.

“I’ll have snacks then, while you’re talking.”

So George let Alex grab whatever snack he wanted from the kitchen, snacks George had saved just for nights like this, and he sat with Alex on his bedroom floor, and he told Alex everything. 

He told Alex about how although he had already put in his very best, it irked him that he wouldn’t know if it would all work out until the day of the game. About how it was this uncertainty that bugged him, and not the fact that he had to follow a rigid schedule every day. About how this was far from his first time being watched by a scout, but it was the first time he was this nervous about it, because he really, really wanted to go to UCLA, and he was so afraid that he would fail again. 

He told Alex about how he knew he was up against that boy, that cornerback from Lincoln, the fiercest rival ever in George’s life since he’d started playing high school football. The boy who had given Alex that injury that ruled him out of playing football ever again. About how he knew that this wasn’t just about the scholarship anymore, but also about something personal. He told Alex about how he wanted nothing, nothing more than to beat that boy to the scholarship. He wanted to avenge Alex.

He told Alex that he knew how much hope Alex, Charles, and even Pierre had in him, and he just really, really didn’t want to disappoint them.

And by the end of it, he’d even allowed himself to have some snacks, as a little treat. 

“Just know that whether you get the scholarship or not, you’re still amazing, and talented, and the best in my eyes. Okay?” Alex told him. 

George thought maybe he could believe that. With Alex and the rest of his friends around, it was easier to not let the scholarship define him.

Besides, even if he wasn’t trying to get that scholarship for himself – he wanted to do it for Alex.

------

It was sunny the afternoon of the big game, something George took as a positive sign. He sat alone in front of his locker, putting his right boot on before his left, and his left shoulder pad before his right. He pulled on his white jersey with the teal number sixty-three on the front, and gave himself a few taps on the chest to hype himself up. 

Nicky gave his head a scrub on his way out the door, something he and George had silently agreed to do before every game, and though it was silly, it always made George smile how at ease these routines made him feel.

The other team was huddled by the side of the field, their orange jerseys glowing in the sun. George always thought the shade of orange made them look jaundiced. He pointed that out to Nicky, and Nicky laughed and told him he was just being petty.

George stood at the end of the offense line, one foot in front of the other, head down and ready to make himself as small and quick as possible. Ready to receive any pass whenever it would come.

He locked eyes with the cornerback standing twenty yards across from him – the boy with whom he was competing for the place in UCLA, the final wildcard scholarship spot available for either of them. He narrowed his eyes, but the boy’s gaze remained stoic.

George couldn’t believe it had taken him up till the very last minute before the game kicked off to realise exactly how desperate he was for the scholarship. All the training and preparation had straight up made George numb to this emotion. 

The whistle blasted, and George immediately kicked into survival mode, his arms moving on autopilot and his feet moving quicker than he could comprehend underneath him. He felt like he was fighting for his life. He was flying, and he was soaring, and he pulled off several impressive solo moves, only a couple of which went uncompleted. He was on track. He could feel it in his bones.

After four downs, they lost possession, and George huffed his way back to the bench, where he sat down with an impatient sigh. He removed his headgear and took a long angry glug of water.

Coach grabbed him by the head and shook him around a little, and told him that as long as he kept doing what he was doing, the scholarship would be in his hands.

George turned to the crowd behind him, amongst which he found Alex, looking right at him with a bright smile on his face, like he had just been waiting for him to turn around. Pierre was distracted by something else, but a tug on his arm by Alex made him pull his sunglasses off and give George a thumbs up. Charles was on the sidelines, decked out in his full orange-highlighted teal and white cheerleading uniform, waving excitedly at him.

Knowing that the three of them were there for him gave George more strength than any energy drink would ever.

Lincoln High came close to a touchdown, which gave George a renewed vengeance when he next took the field.

He locked eyes with the cornerback again, this time just inches away from him. His eyes were a sort of golden brown that matched his horrendous orange shirt, but they were still unmoving.

George lost him as he darted around, looking for a safe space to receive the ball in. Defenders swarmed around him like sharks as he rose to catch the pass and somehow managed to land on his feet.

He dodged and he squirmed, and suddenly miraculously found himself in the clear, his eyes trained on the endzone that seemed miles closer than it had been just a few seconds prior.

He could do it. George could score a touchdown.

It was within touching distance.

Those thoughts blasted through his mind in a split second, and George quickly found his feet again, his hands instinctively forming a protective cradle around the ball as he struggled out of the final desperate grasps of the outside linebacker, who had fallen on the ground. 

George began charging down the outside line, as lightly as a swan but with all the determination of a raging bull. This was it. This was going to be the move that would secure him that spot.

It was the last thing he remembered thinking before he was whisked aside by a sudden force so violent that it knocked all the breath out of him. 

He didn’t manage to catch it again before the world blacked out around him, and the only thing he had the strength to feel was anger and disappointment at himself as the ball slipped out of his hands.

------

The hospital walls seemed unnecessarily cold and bleak as Daniel paced nervously between them.

His name was George, Daniel was told. Not that he needed to be told. Every boy in Class 3A football knew who George Russell was. George Russell of George Washington High School, the terroriser of all cornerbacks.

Daniel had just never paid too much attention to him before. His job was just to focus on himself. It never mattered to Daniel who the opponent was or how highly everyone spoke of them. Plus, Daniel had never even spoken to George before, much less cared about him or let him cross his mind.

But all Daniel could think of right then was how striking the sight of the teal number 63 was as George lay motionless on the ground.

He shook the image out of his mind. George was awake now. Daniel could see him through the window of the room right around the corner, sitting in bed talking to a doctor and his parents. He looked fine.

Daniel sat outside and waited. The doctor left soon enough, which was a relief. George’s parents also left together with George’s coach to do some paperwork. George was left with one of his friends, whom Daniel recognised as being formerly part of George’s team.

“Um…hey,” Daniel said, knocking softly on the door. He was still wearing his sweaty orange PE shirt, which seemed a little lame. “Um…George, right? Are you – is everything alright?”

George looked him up and down. His friend followed, though his eyes widened when Daniel stared back at him. He seemed to be nervous about George’s response.

“I’m alright,” George said. He smiled at Daniel as his eyes landed on the school crest on Daniel’s chest. “You’re from Lincoln? You play football?”

George’s friend’s eyes widened even more, this time at George. But to Daniel’s dismay, he decided to keep his mouth shut about what he was so surprised about.

“Um, yeah,” Daniel started to say, but was quickly interrupted by George’s friend.

“I’m Alex,” he said, standing up to greet Daniel. 

“Hey.” Daniel smiled. Alex. Daniel remembered him from sophomore year, and he had reason to believe that Alex probably didn’t like him that much. He didn’t say anything else, though, and he appeared friendly, so Daniel slowly drifted into the room, hoping neither of the two friends was going to chase him out with a broom. “I’m Daniel. Um…I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about earlier.”

“Earlier?” George looked confused for a moment, which worried Daniel. “Oh! The game? It’s fine.”

“The game?” Daniel repeated. “I mean, I literally knocked you out.”

“Oh!” George said again. “It’s fine. I feel fine.”

“What did the doctor say?” Daniel asked. 

“He just has a concussion and a bruised shoulder,” Alex told him. “It’s late now, so he has to stay the night but he’ll get to go home tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Daniel was glad that it wasn’t too serious. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

He’d only stayed to apologise, and this whole situation with the hospital and taking someone out during a game was beginning to feel a bit too familiar – Daniel was known to be a hard defensive player – so Daniel thought it was time to leave. 

George seemed to have other ideas. “Stay for a bit,” he said, pointing at the chair his mother had been sitting in earlier, across the bed from Alex. “I’m a little bored. You can do me a favour by sitting with me, in return for knocking me out.”

Daniel turned to Alex, who was still staring at him with wide eyes, though he looked a lot less apprehensive now. Then he turned back to George, who was smiling so brightly up at him that Daniel found it hard to say no.

“So who won the game?” George asked as Daniel sat down, hoping he wasn’t stinking up the room too badly.

“GW won. It was pretty close, 17-14.”

“So we’re the champions?” George said excitedly. He turned to Alex. “Alex, we won! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I haven’t had time,” Alex pointed out. “George, you’re literally a bit wonky in the head. There are more important things than the game right now.”

George decided to ignore Alex’s lecture. “Do you think this means I might get the scholarship?” His voice had subsided into a whisper, but Daniel still heard him. 

Daniel knew there was still a wildcard scholarship up for grabs on the UCLA Bruins football team. He knew there had been a scout there to watch him. He just didn’t know that George was the other person the scout was looking out for. 

He’d never really paid too much attention to these things, knowing that things would naturally come to him if he’d been meant to get them. 

“Congratulations,” he offered, when Alex had stayed silent for a tad too long. “About the game.”

“Thank you!” George looked delighted, and Daniel could see how much he loved the sport. He looked bright and eager and honestly, Daniel thought they would’ve made great friends had they met earlier. “And I’m sorry. About the loss. And now you’re stuck here with me. That’s like a double loss.”

Daniel shook his head and laughed. “Why do you keep staring at us like that?” he asked Alex, who still had that bewildered look in his eyes.

“Nothing, it’s just that I thought that George would be a little…angrier than he is right now.”

“Maybe it’s the whack in the head,” Daniel suggested.

Alex laughed. “Yeah, maybe.”

George seemed oblivious to the fact that the two of them were teasing him. When Alex left the room to look for George’s parents, George started asking Daniel excitedly about what he’d missed from the rest of the game. He didn’t really remember much of it, especially not what had happened after he’d gotten knocked out and was brought to the side and eventually to the hospital. But he did remember that it happened and the points he’d helped to score, and he didn’t seem to be bothered that he’d missed more than half the game and that it’d probably harmed his scholarship chances.

Daniel wondered if he should’ve been worried, but he realised he didn’t even know what George was like before he’d passed out from his brain being smacked around too hard.

So he sat there with George and talked about football until George inadvertently fell asleep and it was time for Daniel to go back home.

------

Finals that semester was particularly tough, not just because it was senior year, but because George still had some trouble focusing while he studied.

But if he got that scholarship, it wouldn’t really even matter anyway.

George felt…strangely equanimous about all of it.

Upon his pestering, Daniel had left his phone number so they could text. He’d been a good study companion throughout finals week, entertaining George’s bored texts and sending George funny videos for his break. George wondered if it was just because he felt bad for injuring George in the final.

But getting along with Daniel just felt…natural. George didn’t feel forced or pressured to text him or reply him every day. And even when he did, he never really worried about what to say. Things just flowed between them.

Maybe some things were just meant to be, though it was sometimes funny to think about how such a brief encounter at the hospital could blossom into a friendship like this.

Regardless, George liked the fact that besides Alex, he had woken up to Daniel, and not anyone else.

“Would you be up for going downtown with me to hang out with Daniel?” George asked Alex after they were finally done with their finals.

“Why?” Alex sounded suspicious, dragging out the word.

“Daniel?” Pierre had been walking ahead of them with Charles as they headed into town for lunch, but turned back so quickly he almost tripped on his own feet. “You mean rugby Daniel? Ricciardo?”

“It’s football,” George said.

“Football is played with your feet. Keep up, George. You play fake football.” 

George rolled his eyes. Sometimes, he wished their school didn’t have a soccer team that Pierre could play in, so he wouldn’t be able to keep making this joke. “Whatever.”

“It’s football Daniel,” Alex said before George could stop him.

“I’ll come with you!” Pierre grabbed George by the elbow and hooked their arms together. “I would love to hang out with Daniel.”

The mischievous look in Pierre’s eye told George that something wasn’t quite right. That thought was further cemented when Alex gave Pierre’s ribs a little nudge.

“We can all go,” Alex suggested. “Right, Charles?”

Charles seemed a normal amount of confused about the situation, but he agreed. He stayed behind with George as Pierre and Alex led the way, bumping shoulders and whispering conspiratorially. 

“How’s your shoulder, Georgie?” he asked, as if the sight of it triggered his memory about George’s injury from not too long ago.

“It’s not really sore anymore,” George told him. 

“Great.” Charles grinned. “I don’t know who Daniel is but I’m looking forward to hanging out with him.”

George laughed. The other two sometimes liked making fun of Charles because his head was always nowhere, but George thought his childlike nature was the most endearing thing in the universe.

“He’s just a friend I made at the state final.”

“Okay. You all seem to like him so I think I’ll like him, too.”

There wasn’t anything not to like about Daniel, George thought. Perhaps just the fact that they’d only gotten to be friends so late into high school.

*

Daniel’s finals ended a week later, so they all ventured downtown that weekend for lunch and some bowling.

George felt a bit silly, dragging his little gaggle of friends into town just to see Daniel. But Daniel didn’t seem to see anything wrong with that, and met them excitedly at the bus stop with a friend in tow.

“This is Lando,” he told the four of them, gesturing to his friend. “Lando, this is George, and Alex, and – sorry, I don’t think I know you two yet.”

“This is Pierre and Charles,” George said, though Pierre had leapt forward excitedly before he could even finish and almost knocked Daniel over.

“Great!” Daniel looked taken aback, but settled quickly. “Um…so, bowling? We can get lunch at the bowling place, then after dinner we can have a nice walk.”

George really hadn’t planned much besides bowling. He was just glad to get to hang out with Daniel again. The last time they’d gotten to really hang out was at the hospital when George had been a little groggy, and even though it was probably only for a few minutes, George remembered it clear as day, and he remembered thoroughly enjoying Daniel’s presence, so he thought that hanging out with him for real and not just over text would be really nice.

Bowling was as rowdy and chaotic as George could’ve expected it to be, with Pierre and Charles around. They split into two teams, with George joining Daniel and Lando, but Lando soon took such a liking to Charles and Alex that he switched teams with Pierre so they could all get up to their nonsense together. 

George spent most of the time chewing on hotdogs and pretzels with Daniel as they waited for their turns. He seemed as uninterested in what was going on as George was, and seemed to prefer George’s company like George preferred his.

There was a warm feeling in George’s heart that he couldn’t quite describe as he listened to Daniel speak animatedly about one of the papers he had to write for history. He didn’t know enough to contribute, but by the end of it had learned enough to write one of those papers himself.

George didn’t know for sure, but he had an inkling Daniel knew a thing or two about the scholarship at UCLA that George had been scouted for. He didn’t know where that feeling came from, and neither of them mentioned the scholarship, though George himself would’ve preferred to hear some news about it before Christmas rolled around.

He resisted asking Daniel about it.

“I had fun today,” Daniel told him softly as they were making the long trek back across town after dinner. 

“Yeah?” George smiled. “Me, too.”

“I didn’t think we’d be friends.” Daniel’s voice was still soft, almost lost in the bustling noise of the road next to them. “I mean, you know…honestly, I’ve never really noticed anyone on other football teams. So…not you, either. And I thought you’d be mad at me for knocking you out. I’ve come across many people like that, and I totally understand, ‘cause I know sometimes the competition gets the better of us. And I still don’t know why you aren’t angry. But…I’m glad.”

George…really didn’t know why he wasn’t angry, either.

But when he had first seen Daniel peeking into the door of his little room at the hospital, all he felt was curiosity and a small little sliver of excitement that came with making a new friend in football.

He didn’t really feel anything outside of that.

“I’m glad I wasn’t, too,” he said. “And I’m glad that…that you still remember me after the hospital and that we’re still in touch.”

Daniel smiled. “Of course. I really had so much fun today.” Daniel hooked his arm in George’s, an action that caught George off guard. “We should go out again.”

George felt a blush creep across his cheeks at how close Daniel was standing; he hoped it wasn’t too obvious to Daniel under the dim evening light. 

“Yeah,” he heard himself saying, as if his soul had floated out of his body and was currently watching himself do something silly. “Maybe…maybe just us two.”

Daniel’s smile softened, but he nodded. “Mhm. I’d like that.”

“I hope you aren’t just hanging out with me because you feel bad for injuring me,” George said.

Daniel’s laughter travelled far in the night breeze, catching the attention of the other four ahead of them. “No. I’m actually kinda glad I injured you. Now we get to be friends.”

“Shut up.” George nudged him in the ribs, and he burst into more giggles. “You were willing to injure me just so you would get my attention? What kind of friend are you?”

“And what about it?” Daniel elbowed George back, causing them both to stumble along the sidewalk. “You should be honoured.”

A few seconds of playful wrestling by the roadside later, they attracted Pierre, who zoomed up to them so quickly it was like he was a cat on steroids. “What’s going on?” he asked, a smirk on his lips.

“Daniel injured me intentionally so he could get my attention,” George said in between panting and laughing.

“I didn’t!”

“You admitted to it earlier!”

“I think that was a really good idea, Daniel,” Pierre said, completely deadpan. “You really pulled it off. I’m sorry your reward is just George.”

“Pierre!” George exclaimed as Alex started to laugh, too. “Alex!”

Daniel was laughing so hard then, he was practically rolling on the floor. “Okay, okay,” he conceded, clutching at his stomach. “I didn’t do it on purpose. But I am glad that you still remember me after you recovered from your concussion. That’s nice.”

George beamed at him. There was a silence that dragged on for far too long, so George turned back to his friends only to see Pierre and Alex standing with their arms hooked and shoulders pressed together, matching little smiles on their faces like they’d been in the middle of sharing a secret, and next to them, Charles, who was gazing over at George with his eyes glossed over. And at the end was Lando, who just looked very confused.

“Dan, we can take the bus from here,” he said, tugging at Daniel’s sleeve. His hand retreated when Pierre turned to stare at him. “Um…I mean, if you’re ready to leave.”

“Yeah, uh…” George cleared his throat. “We’ll go out again.”

Daniel nodded. The smile on his face made him look like a little child. “I’ll text you.”

George watched as Daniel and Lando crossed the street and sat down in the lone harsh white light of the bus stop. Daniel seemed to soften the glow, giving it a gentle golden tint.

“Bye, guys!” Pierre yelled so loudly, George almost jumped out of his own skin. “We had fun! See you next time!”

“Who says you’re invited next time?” George asked him. 

“Am I not? Are you planning to go on a date with Daniel?” Pierre waggled his eyebrows.

Well – maybe George was. But he wasn’t ready to admit that.

Not before he came to terms with himself for…maybe wanting to date Daniel.

“Whatever,” he said.

“Whatever,” Pierre repeated mockingly. He dragged George to the next street where their bus stop was, rudely pulling George away from the small peaceful moment he was having with the image of Daniel under the bus stop light.

The three of them occupied a row of side-facing seats while George sat alone. He watched Pierre and Charles smother Alex in the middle seat with incessant chattering, probably trying to brainwash him into believing something silly, like they usually liked to do.

George spent the whole bus trip home thinking about what he was going to drag Daniel out to do the next time they met. 

------

When George next texted Daniel suggesting they spend a Saturday at a museum in the city because they were holding an exhibition that seemed similar to what Daniel had written in his paper, Daniel…didn’t really know what to say.

“A museum, huh?” Max asked. “A man after your own heart.”

He sounded skeptical, which Daniel was used to. Lando, on the other hand, quipped, “You guys always like to do such random things when you go out.”

“It’s not random,” Daniel said.

Lando shrugged. It was probably random to him. He ripped off a piece of soft pretzel between his teeth and chewed noisily on it as he asked, “So when are we going?”

“Um…” Daniel ran his hands through his hair to distract himself from Max’s eyes boring holes into him. “It’s kinda…like, just us two. Me and George.”

“Like a date?!” Lando spewed, bits of soft pretzel flying everywhere.

“I don’t know yet.” Daniel glared at him as he swept moist crumbs off his sleeve. “Hey. I don’t want any of your stupid pretzel.”

“When can I meet him?” Max asked. “And will you wait for my approval before you date him?”

“No.” Daniel rolled his eyes, making Max laugh. Daniel knew he was only joking; he was protective, but his jokes took the edge off it. Daniel crawled into the space next to him on the couch in the empty school lounge, which they’d only visited to wait for Lando to be done with his extracurriculars in the computer lab. Why they were still sitting there with full attendance, Daniel honestly wasn’t sure. “Oh, Maxy. I want to go to the museum with him. Will you help me think of how to reply to him?”

It was Max’s turn to roll his eyes, but he did take Daniel’s phone and put on a thoughtful expression as he pondered the multitude of excited messages George had sent, including a description of the event at the museum and what he thought about it with his limited knowledge.

“He seems nice,” Max said softly. “And you like him?”

Daniel…really wasn’t sure yet.

“Maybe,” he mumbled. “I…you know, we kinda just met? But I really like him as a friend, at least.”

“I mean, you must like him a little bit more than that, right? Or you wouldn’t be so nervous about replying to him that you’re asking me to help you.”

Daniel giggled. “Yeah, I guess. I don’t know. It’s kinda weird. But, like, a good kinda weird.”

“Just know that I’m ready to fight him if he ever hurts you.”

“Thanks, Maxy.”

None of them seemed to be particularly averse to spending the afternoon lazing away in the student lounge, so Daniel told Max and Lando everything he knew about George and everything they talked about since Daniel had first met him almost a month ago.

It was more than Daniel had expected it to be for such a short period of time, but as he recounted all of it, he couldn’t help but smile at the anticipation of more of these memories waiting to be made.

*

Daniel realised belatedly as he was on the bus into the city that neither he nor George had really confirmed with each other that it was just them two going on the trip to the museum.

About twenty minutes of silent panicking, getting himself ready to meet four people instead of one, and preparing his explanation for why he came by himself – he arrived at the entrance to the museum, where George was already waiting for him, alone.

Daniel heaved a big, long sigh of relief.

“Daniel!” George called loudly, waving at Daniel like he wasn’t already the biggest beacon of light by himself just standing there. 

Daniel pushed his freezing fingers into his pockets and checked both ways for traffic before jogging across the road. George grabbed at his sleeve as he neared, and pulled him close as they went inside, where it was warmer.

“Hi.” His voice echoed a bit around the wide, empty front lobby.

“Hi.” Daniel smiled. “How are you?”

“A little bit cold.” George pulled off his coat; underneath it, he was wearing a cream-coloured turtleneck sweater that looked like it’d been picked out by his mum. “But I’m alright. How about you?”

Daniel decided not to tell him about the little panic attack he’d had on the way there. Instead, he just said, “I’m okay. Just a little cold, too.”

They got their tickets and headed towards the exhibition, a showcase of how art and politics were intertwined in US history. It was only somewhat similar to what Daniel had studied and written for his history paper, but Daniel was touched that George remembered something from all his rambling that day.

The exhibition area wasn’t too big, but George let Daniel linger at every section, asking him questions about the works and stories written on the signs. He didn’t mind when Daniel didn’t have answers to his questions. He just listened to whatever Daniel could tell him, and he seemed really interested, and he even told Daniel that he’d go home and read up more about some things because he took a different history course in his school.

“You seem very interested in all this history stuff,” he noted. “Do you think you’ll major in something like that?”

“Yeah, I think so. Or something in political sciences,” Daniel said. “UCLA has a good program, I think.”

George was quiet for a while when UCLA was mentioned, and for a brief moment Daniel wondered if he’d ruined their wonderful day together by bringing up the scholarship, which seemed like a sensitive subject to George.

“Um, I mean, if I get in,” he hurried to say. “What – what about you? Would you be interested in this, too?”

He didn’t really know why he'd asked that. George evidently didn’t know enough about history and politics to want to major in it.

George, luckily, didn’t seem to take any offence to it. “I’m more interested in the sciences,” he told Daniel. “I like physics, and I like astronomy, so I’m looking at majoring in astrophysics. Um…UCLA has a whole department for it. It looks really difficult, but I like it, and it seems pretty cool.”

“So like, stars and stuff? That’s really cool! Maybe next time we can go to some other museum where there’s an exhibition you’d like.”

“Okay.” George smiled. “So…there will be a next time, then?”

Daniel didn’t see why not, but he felt the same little hop in his chest that George was probably feeling as he made that realisation. “Yeah, of course.”

George affectionately bumped his shoulder against Daniel’s, then waited for him to put his coat on before they headed outside to look for a place to have dinner.

They only shared a simple pot pie and some hot soup, but as they strolled down the streets to get to their bus stops with large warm chocolates in hand, Daniel felt fuller than he had when he’d left home to meet George that day.

George waited with him at his stop for his bus, even though it was already getting dark. He told Daniel stories about his friends as they waited, and though he rolled his eyes multiple times while telling Daniel all the nonsense they always did to fuck with him, Daniel could see all the love in his eyes that he held for them.

The sight of him smiling under the white bus stop light as Daniel’s bus pulled away, his hair peeking out from under the front of his beanie, was endearing. Daniel waved at him, and his smile grew wide as he waved back.

Daniel twisted back in his seat to watch George until he disappeared from sight behind the bus, then settled back down and took out his phone to text Max that maybe he was right and Daniel did like George a little bit more than a friend.

------

Christmas break was supposed to be quiet and uneventful for George; he hadn’t really felt up for having a huge celebration, what with still being observed for his concussion and not hearing anything from UCLA about the scholarship. His parents planned to drive out for Christmas dinner with his grandparents, but other than that, George planned on spending the week at home just resting before his final medical tests and training starting up again after the New Year.

After returning from his grandparents’, though, George received a text from Daniel that he was visiting family in Cherry Creek, and that he wanted to know if George would be up for hanging out sometime.

Ever since their outing to the museum, George had been thinking of the next time he could see Daniel, so he didn’t see any way he would say no.

It had rained earlier that day, so it was cold and foggy in the evening after dinner when George headed out to the convenience store, where Daniel said he’d wait. George pulled his gloves more tightly over his hands and his beanie down over his forehead as he tried not to slip and fall on his butt while walking down the street.

Daniel was leaning on the street railing outside the convenience store, barely even looking cold at all. His silhouette was stark against the brightness of the convenience store behind him, and he raised a hand excitedly as George approached him. 

His smile was soft and eager, his crinkled eyes framed by dark glasses that George hadn’t seen him wear before. His beanie was sitting loose on his head and his thick curls hung out the front of it. The sleeves of his oversized black hoodie hung long over his fingers, but he used them to grab George’s hand.

“Hey!” he said.

It seemed like ages since George had last seen him, even though in reality their trip to the museum had only been right before Christmas. 

“How’ve you been?” he asked Daniel.

“I’m alright,” Daniel said, though the way he pulled his sleeves even further over his hands told George slightly otherwise. “It’s really nice to be with all my little cousins again.”

“I have little cousins, too.” George smiled. “How old are yours?”

“Five and a half, two, and then a seven-month old.” Daniel looked so happy at the mention of them. “Isaac, Lottie, and Sarah. Lottie still waddles a little bit like this when she walks.” Daniel did a little waddle ahead of George to demonstrate. “It’s so adorable.”

George burst into laughter. Daniel looked ridiculous, but George was sure the little girl looked adorable. “Mine are three and five. Noah and Oliver,” he said. “How long are you staying over the break?”

“Just a few days after New Year’s. Then I have to go back for training,” Daniel said. A delighted expression took over his face as an idea popped into his mind. “Hey, do you think we could have our cousins go out to play? Like a little playdate? We could babysit them.”

“That sounds fun,” George said. “Yeah, we could bring them to the park or something. Or if it’s too cold, we could hang out at one of their houses.”

“Cool, I’ll ask my aunt.” Daniel dragged George towards the entrance of the convenience store. “Are you hungry? I’ve just had dinner, but I think I wanna get a snack. And a hot drink.”

They went inside and spent a solid half-hour wandering the short shelves and giggling at random items they found. Then they left, George armed with a warm ginger ale and Daniel armed with a hot chocolate, a hot dog, and packets of chips he stuffed into the front pocket of his hoodie like a little squirrel.

The streets were empty due to the weather, so the sidewalk was all theirs. Their voices echoed in the silent air as they chattered about school and training and the off-season. The smile never left Daniel’s face, and George wasn’t complaining, because that was quickly beginning to be his favourite look on Daniel.

Their walk continued even after they’d finished their drinks. It seemed like Daniel hadn’t run out of things to say yet. So George just kept walking with him, and he listened to Daniel ramble and he watched Daniel laugh, and it felt sort of like they were on a date.

“...so I told Lando to shut up, and –” Daniel’s voice abruptly cut off as his Vans made a sharp squeak on the icy sidewalk and he flailed for a few long seconds before landing on his butt, even sliding a few feet down the street.

George burst into loud laughter while Daniel sat there, confused at what had just conspired in the last two seconds. The chip bags in his pocket rustled as he tried his best to get back on his feet, but failed a few times when his sneakers failed to gain any traction. 

“Would you be so kind as to help me?” he asked George, looking flustered and amused at George’s laughter.

George pulled him to his feet and waited for him to steady himself, but couldn’t resist giving him a gentle shove so he slid down the street again, his arms out like he was surfing.

“George!” he exclaimed, a puff of white air escaping his lips.

“You should get new sneakers.” George snickered.

Daniel tried making his way back to George, but could only manage to walk on the spot with the way his feet started sliding again. “Whatever. This is kinda fun.”

“We should race.” George tested out the icy sidewalk with his feet; the ice was thicker in these parts, probably because it had rained more over here. “C’mon. We’ll see who can slide all the way to the next crossing first.”

“Deal!” Daniel gave himself a running start and had started sliding before George could even ready himself. His laughter floated back to George as George followed suit, though his head start meant he got to the crossing far earlier than George, and stood there grinning with one hand on the lamp post, waiting for George. “What’s my prize?” he asked.

“There’s no prize.” George rolled his eyes playfully.

“Sour grapes.” Daniel grabbed George’s hand, taking him by surprise. “Let’s go together. To the end of the street.”

So they ran and they slid, and ran and slid, their laughter floating far into the distance. George quickly forgot how cold it was, and the only feeling he was aware of was the warmth of Daniel’s hand in his. He forgot about how gloomy the night looked, and the only sight he found himself focused on was the way Daniel’s curls bounced on his forehead and his glasses fogging up when he laughed.

Daniel managed to fall again as they reached the park separating the central from the rest of the neighbourhood, pulling George to the ground with him. But he didn’t get up, and instead just lay down on the ground with a sigh.

“I’m tired,” he said.

“Me, too.” George felt the melting ice seep into the back of his hoodie as he laid back. “It’s late. We should go home.”

“Hmm,” Daniel said non-committally. 

They laid there for a while, looking up at the cloudy night sky. George felt a strange sense of peace.

Daniel eventually got up reluctantly, and pulled George to his feet, the both of them somehow managing not to fall flat on their asses again. But he didn’t let go of George’s hand, so the two of them stood there by the corner of the street, hand in hand, smiling secretively at each other.

“Which way are you headed?” Daniel asked.

“Just through the park. I live in Hilltop.”

“Cool. I’m going back over to Cherry Creek. Near the store.”

“I’ll walk you,” George said, gently swinging Daniel’s hand.

“Don’t. It’s too far.”

“I’ll walk with you to the second crossing,” George suggested.

So they walked, hands cupped gently in each other’s, neither of them saying a word. In those little moments in the quiet night without a single other soul in sight, George felt like he was alone with Daniel in their own little snow globe.

It became evident that as the adrenaline wore down, the cold was beginning to get to the both of them, especially since their clothes were soaked from lying down on the ice like idiots. Daniel gave a little shiver as they stopped under the stop sign at the crossing, reluctant to part ways.

“Take my hoodie.” George was wearing another sweater under his hoodie, and he only had a short distance to walk, so he handed his light blue hoodie to Daniel. “You look really cold.”

“Won’t you be cold?” Daniel asked.

“I’ll just take a little jog through the park and I’ll be home in less than five minutes.”

“Okay.” Daniel’s grin only disappeared for a split second as he dragged the extra hoodie over his head. The sound of his chips rustling again made George smile. “Just make sure you don’t fall over again.”

George scoffed. “ You were doing all the falling over.”

Daniel giggled. George’s hoodie was a bit big on him, too, and he looked all puffy with all his layers. He adjusted his beanie over his curls. “Bye, George.”

“See you next time. With your cousins.”

George managed to jog across the street without falling on his ass. When he turned around, he saw Daniel standing another crossing down, his hands stuffed into George’s hoodie, looking at him. 

George waved. The smile Daniel gave him as he waved back, George felt in his chest.

He got home twenty minutes past curfew and managed to take a warm shower undetected by his parents. 

Then he got into bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about holding Daniel’s hand until he finally fell asleep happy.

------

The weather was beginning to look up on the day before New Year’s Eve, when Daniel was supposed to bring his cousins to meet George’s. Isaac and Lottie were buzzing and ready when Daniel went downstairs that morning, and they left the house after giving baby Sarah a good morning kiss. 

The breakfast place they were supposed to meet George at was near the convenience store, and Daniel arrived to see George crouched on the ground outside the window, each arm curled around one little boy, pointing at something the cashier was doing. 

“Hey, boys,” Daniel called as they approached, causing all three heads to turn in unison.

“Hey!” George’s face was flushed, like it usually was whenever he started going on one of his rambles, but it lit up when he saw Daniel. He stood up and maneuvered the boys around with his hands on their heads. “Say hi to Daniel. Daniel, this is Noah and Oliver.”

“Hi.” Daniel grinned at them, and although they were both shy and retreated slightly behind George’s legs, they gave Daniel small matching smiles. They had the same blue eyes as George, but had way blonder, sandy hair. “Hey. This is Lottie and Isaac.”

Isaac’s grip on Daniel’s jeans tightened, but he smiled; Lottie, on the other hand, looked ready to make her escape down the street, so Daniel picked her up. “This little princess here is Lottie. Lottie, you’re the only girl here today so we’ll all treat you like a queen. Yeah?”

George laughed as Lottie gave a little contented jiggle. He led the way into the breakfast place, where the six of them managed to squeeze into one booth, the kids on the inside and George and Daniel near the aisle. George got himself bacon and eggs and Daniel got a burrito, and all the kids jumped at the idea of pancakes, so they each got a portion lathered to death with syrup.

Noah and Oliver were eager to talk to Daniel once they’d gotten out of their shell, but George was obsessed with Lottie covering her hands with syrup, so they swapped places. Oliver, the older one, told Daniel everything about kindergarten that Daniel already knew from Isaac. Next to them and across the table, Noah and Isaac had a great time colouring the cars on the placemat and communicating in a sort of language that made it sound like they were from two different planets. And then there was Lottie, squealing and fussing next to a very patient George.

George seemed like he was great with kids. It wasn’t something Daniel had expected coming from a prolific football player like him.

But then again, Daniel himself had gotten that same exact praise many times before, so who was he really to say anything?

Lottie continued taking a liking to George as they headed to the toy store after breakfast. She trotted on happily, holding on to two of George’s fingers with her entire hand. In his other hand was Noah’s, who was holding on to Isaac’s, forming a chain that stretched across the whole sidewalk. Daniel enjoyed seeing all of them get along like that.

“Danny.” Oliver tugged on Daniel’s hand. He, just like Lottie with George, had taken a liking to Daniel, and hadn’t stopped talking to Daniel in what seemed like twenty minutes. He reminded Daniel of George. “What do you like?”

Daniel smiled down at him. His eyes matched the gloomy winter surroundings, but also brought a sort of life to them. “I like football. Like George.”

“Like Georgie?” Oliver repeated. “Cool! Is that how you met him?”

It was then Daniel’s turn to talk endlessly so Oliver could hear all about football and the vaguest, most child-friendly version of how Daniel had officially met George after knocking him out. Fortunately for Oliver, they reached the toy store less than ten minutes later, and he was freed to run down the aisles with his brother and his two new friends.

George hung back with Daniel, telling him about how his mum had given him some extra money so he could get Daniel’s cousins some toys. But he looked set on picking out said toy himself instead of asking any of the kids what they wanted, so Daniel listened as he verbalised his whole thought process. 

They had to pick up Lottie along the way, sitting alone in the soft toy aisle surrounded by three of the same orange bear, left behind due to her stubby little legs. She sat on Daniel’s arm, listening attentively to George tell her something about the solar system-themed toy he was going to get that she didn’t understand a word about. 

The tiny ball pit they encountered a few aisles down rattled her with excitement, and her loud screech attracted the attention of the three boys, who came clambering towards them. The five of them then proceeded to leave George in their wake as they dove into the colourful balls, Lottie giggling as the others pretended to be sharks before popping up around her.

Daniel didn’t notice where George had gone, and instead immediately allowed himself to be buried by the boys. He was pretty sure the ball pit didn’t exist solely for them to wreak havoc in it, but it was so easy to lose track of time that it was only thirty minutes later that Daniel finally looked up again and saw George standing by the edge of the pit, his hands on his hips as he watched them.

He didn’t look too displeased, even if the way he was standing suggested so. In fact, he had a little smile on his face that grew when he met Daniel’s gaze. On the floor by his feet was a box holding a rolled up solar system rug, which he picked up and held towards Daniel.

Daniel waded out of the ball pit, followed obediently by the four kids. They were still bouncing off the walls, contrary to what Daniel had expected after he thought they’d expended all their energy in the ball pit, so after George paid for the rug, they skipped all the way home as Daniel and George struggled to catch up. 

Daniel’s aunt had prepared dinner for George and his cousins, and after a very rowdy meal punctuated by baby Sarah’s loud munching and Lottie’s best effort at regurgitating the day’s events to her parents, all the kids gathered around George again in the living room, where he explained to them every detail about the little rug he’d just bought them.

Daniel sat with them for a while, mesmerised by the look of pure joy on George’s face as he talked about what he loved the most and the softness with which he guided Isaac’s little hand around the rug. He was patient and spoke slowly, and he answered all of Isaac’s questions even though they didn’t make any sense to Daniel. His voice was gentle and calm, but captured everyone’s attention. Daniel couldn’t look away, and he couldn’t stop wanting to listen, and he couldn’t help the smile on his face at the sight. Even Noah was spellbound by George, and Daniel was sure Noah had heard all of this multiple times before.

He eventually settled with Isaac and Noah sitting on his thighs, his arms wrapped around their waists as he listened to them make up stories about the skies. Lottie sat by his feet, half-dozing as she ran her tubby little hands over the planets on the rug. Oliver looked the most bored of them all, and sat quietly next to Daniel. 

“Hi Danny,” he said.

“Hi.” Daniel smiled at him. “How are you?”

“I’m bored.” Oliver slid closer to Daniel and hooked his arm around Daniel’s wrist. “Danny, do you like Georgie?”

A quick glance at George told Daniel that he was still too engrossed in his solar system lecture to hear anything else that was going on. “Of course I like him. He’s my friend.”

“No, I mean…” Oliver hoisted himself onto Daniel’s lap to whisper into his ear, “You know, at school, when a boy likes a girl, he’ll go ask her to be his girlfriend? Do you want Georgie to be your boyfriend?”

“Shhh.” Daniel grabbed him and placed a hand over his mouth as he giggled. “You have such a big mouth for a five year old, huh? C’mon. Do you want to help me take Lottie to bed?”

They scooped up Lottie from near George’s feet and brought her upstairs. She was sharing a room with Sarah while Daniel’s family were there, and Sarah was already asleep, so Daniel and Oliver opened the door softly.

“Here’s Sarah,” Daniel whispered as Oliver stopped next to her cot. “She was very noisy earlier but she’s sleeping so she’s quiet now. Do you wanna say good night?”

Oliver smiled at her. He slid his hand between the cot rails and gently grasped on to Sarah’s fingers. “Good night, Sarah,” he said softly.

He was beginning to remind Daniel more and more of George.

Lottie wasn’t fully asleep yet, and clung on tightly to Daniel, so the three of them settled on the soft rug on the floor as Daniel tried to rock Lottie to sleep. “Did you have fun today?” he asked.

Lottie murmured a sleepy yes, and Oliver nodded his head. “I had fun Danny,” he said. “Danny. Are you going to ask George to be your boyfriend? You like him, right?”

Daniel tutted at him. “A little bit,” he said, distracting himself by tugging on Lottie’s little dress.

Oliver giggled. “I won’t tell him.”

“Promise.” Daniel stuck out his pinky.

Oliver hooked his around it, then snuggled up to Daniel, under his arm. “Danny I had a lot of fun today.”

“Yeah? That’s great.”

Daniel closed his eyes and drifted in the peacefulness of the room, so he didn’t notice the door being pushed open until he opened his eyes a little while later and noticed the sliver of light on the ground growing. George stood in the doorway with Noah sleeping on his shoulder and Isaac holding on to his free hand.

“Hey,” he whispered. “My aunt called so I have to take them home now. Sorry for keeping everyone up so late.”

Isaac was tucked into bed without any resistance, and George’s cousins lived only a couple of streets down, so Daniel offered to walk them home. The journey was quiet, all four of them bundled tightly in their winter clothes, Noah still sleeping on George’s shoulder and Oliver stumbling sleepily between George and Daniel, holding both their hands.

George’s aunt was a really nice lady, and she didn’t say a word about Daniel and George keeping her kids out so late. She invited them inside, but they decided not to bother her any further. 

Instead, George dragged Daniel through the side gate into the backyard, where there was a treehouse on a large oak tree.

“Me and my brother Benjy built this before he left for college,” George told Daniel. “For Oliver and Noah.”

A ladder made of small half-logs led up the tree trunk to the treehouse, which seemed sturdy under their feet. There were a few toys in a little basket, and a toy kitchen set because apparently, Noah loved to pretend to cook.

Daniel and George sat by the window, which fit both their heads snugly, and watched the stars in the sky. Daniel waited for George to start speaking about any remaining celestial knowledge he had that he hadn’t talked about yet that day; indeed, he did start another soft lecture about the constellations visible at this time of year as Daniel watched him in awe.

It was only then, huddled together in the treehouse made for children, bundled tightly in thick sweaters and watching the night sky twinkle above them – did Daniel realise exactly how obsessed he was with George.

He felt so happy and carefree being with George. He didn’t feel the need to hide his interests or feel embarrassed about how much he was talking. He didn’t feel scared that he would be too eager or loud and scare George off, like he had done to so many people before. He loved the passion and joy George radiated. George had such a big heart and he always put all of it into everything, and Daniel felt so comfortable getting to know him and getting closer to him.

Are you going to ask George to be your boyfriend? 

Oliver’s question popped into Daniel’s mind out of nowhere, and he found himself smiling at the thought of it.

“What’s so funny?” George asked. He sounded genuinely curious, and not offended. “Did I say something funny?”

Daniel shook his head. “I was just thinking about something Oliver said.”

“He really took a liking to you, huh? I hope he didn’t say anything bad about me.” George grinned, and it made Daniel’s heart forget how to beat for a moment. “You know, Noah says he wants to play football when he grows up? Like us two. But he’s three, so I don’t think he really knows what he’s talking about yet.”

“Maybe we can go out to play someday. Teach him how to catch a ball.”

“Yeah.” George’s voice had subsided slightly from his excited rambling earlier. “Daniel. Thank you for listening to me talk all day. Thank you for...for always listening to me.”

It was as if he’d read Daniel’s mind. “I love listening to you. Thank you for always listening to me, too.”

They sat quietly for a while, smiling at each other. Daniel was briefly transported to that night they’d spent together, getting snacks at the convenience store and then sliding their way across town on their sneakers. 

And he felt the same urge he’d felt that night, the same urge to just lean across and kiss George. 

He smiled at the thought, and saw George’s gaze wander to his lips. 

Before he realised what he was doing, Daniel found himself leaning closer to George. George’s eyes were hooded as his gaze continued to be fixated on Daniel’s lips, but he, too, moved closer. 

The feeling of George’s breath on Daniel’s cheeks was intoxicating. Daniel tried his best to keep his heart safely in his chest, but found himself gasping at the effort. 

A little buzz of adrenaline provided by George gently nuzzling their noses together made Daniel grip on tightly to George’s forearm. He inched closer, letting his lips fall open. 

He was so painfully close to having his lips on George’s when the side gate suddenly slammed shut, surprising them into pulling apart and causing George to bump his head against the ceiling of the small space. 

They had done nothing, but found themselves equally out of breath as they stared at each other, cheeks flushed red and burning hot. 

“Um…” Daniel’s hand suddenly felt like it didn’t belong on George’s arm, so he removed it and folded his hands in his lap. “I think...maybe I should go.”

“Yeah –” George’s voice cracked, and he cleared his throat shyly. “I have a long walk home, too.”

“I’ll walk you. To the convenience store.”

George looked ready to reject him, but Daniel grabbed on to his hand once they were on solid ground again, so he had no other choice. 

The walk was shorter than Daniel wanted it to be, and quieter. He silently begged for George to start talking like he usually did, but there was nothing. He struggled to find something to say, but couldn’t. He almost started singing, which was his default reaction to any kind of prolonged silence.

“You’re really good with children,” George eventually said. 

Daniel hadn’t been aware that George had been watching him and noticed that, but the thought of it made him blush again. “You are, too. Isaac seems to really love you.”

They stopped outside the convenience store, where they finally let go of each other’s hands. The store was open through the night, and though the light was harsh as it hit George’s face, the smile that shone from beneath it was the softest thing Daniel had ever seen.

“I’ll see you soon, then,” Daniel said, pushing his hands into his pockets. He didn’t need to think for too long to figure out when the next time they could see each other was. It was practically etched in his mind. 

“For testing.” George nodded. Their division’s physical testing wasn’t until the end of January, but it seemed like George was looking forward to it as much as Daniel was. “I’ll see you, Daniel.”

The air had become tense after what they’d been so close to sharing in the treehouse earlier, and Daniel desperately didn’t want it to be so. He chased George’s gaze until he caught it, desperate for George to say something more. 

“Hey.” Daniel took George’s hand again, just curling his fingers limply around George’s. “Um…are we okay?”

“Of course.” George’s smile returned, this time looking more relieved. His breath formed a little puff of air in front of his face as he burst into a soft chuckle. “Happy New Year, Dan.”

“Happy New Year, Georgie.”

Daniel was reluctant to leave, so there was a long pause right then. George resolved it by suddenly leaning across and pressing a quick kiss to Daniel’s forehead.

“Bye,” he whispered, letting his hand slide out of Daniel’s as he started walking away.

Daniel watched him walk slowly down the street, hunched over on himself to keep warm, his hands stuffed nervously into the front of his hoodie. He turned around once, a slight blush on his cheeks as he gave Daniel another shy smile.

George’s kiss had placed a little warmth on Daniel’s head, a warmth that radiated through his entire body, making Daniel feel invincible as he stood there in the wintry night watching George’s silhouette disappear into the distance.

------

That year’s physical testing couldn’t have come quicker for George.

Not just because he was itching to get the off-season training started, but because he knew he might get to see Daniel there.

He refused to tell anyone about it, even when his excitement was evident enough for Alex to ask him about it. All he said was that he hadn’t heard from UCLA yet, and he didn’t think they’d given the scholarship away yet, so maybe they were going to be looking at these tests before making their decision, and he was going to put in nothing less than a hundred percent of his effort.

It also distracted him a bit from being too anxious about the lack of news, and even if it was all just pointless convincing of himself that he hadn’t lost the scholarship yet, George was willing to take it.

His dad drove him into the city early that morning, where George met Nicky and the rest of the team. Test stations were scattered across a few rooms, the gymnasium, and the outdoor astroturf, and there were a few sessions going on concurrently, with one already in progress when George and his team started theirs.

George got into the zone quickly, floating through the stations and completing the bench press and vertical jump stations with ease. He went outside for the 40-yard dash and lateral movement test, then headed back inside, where he’d left the cardio and resistance running test for last because he hated them so much.

He caught Daniel leaving the cardio room as he was going in, and the sight of him made George’s heart suddenly skip so fast he wondered if he would fail the cardio test before it even started. 

“Hey!” Daniel seemed to be oblivious to it. Big beads of sweat decorated his forehead, and he sloppily wiped them off with the back of his hand. “Last station?”

“This and the resistance one.”

Daniel grinned. “Yeah, I saved these two for last too, ‘cause they suck so much.”

George laughed. “So you’re done already?”

“Yeah. I can wait for you if you’d like. We can go for lunch.”

“Sure, my dad can drive us.”

Daniel gave him one last pat on the shoulder and disappeared down the hallway. George headed inside and finished the dreaded cardio test without dying, then went into the next room, where there were resistance bands tied to pegs on cushioned walls, and distance markers on the floor. He stepped up to a station and wrapped the band around his waist as the coach explained to him that he had ten tries of thirty seconds to get as far as he could.

George might’ve hated this test, but he wasn’t too bad at it; he had to be good at it as an offensive player. So he did what he knew to do, which was to pick a point on the far wall, push his chin down, and run as hard as he could towards it. 

The first few tries were decent, and George thought he was doing pretty well. But it might have been fatigue that was beginning to overcome him, because a bout of dizziness suddenly took over him at the end of his fourth try.

“Do you want to sit down?” the coach asked as George stood panting, the resistance band loose over his hips.

George shook his head. He just wanted to get it over and done with. He stepped forward until the band was taut again, and waited for the whistle to go.

The spot on the far wall he’d been aiming for had suddenly been replaced by the memory of that state final two months ago – that clear line ahead of George and the sight of the endzone just within reach, that feeling of being grasped by the waist and breaking free, and that last moment of consciousness before he was whisked aside by a force so strong he never actually recovered from it. By…Daniel, apparently.

“Time.” The coach called, writing something down on George’s testing card. “Try again.”

The vision intensified this time around, just like the tightening of the band around his waist as he made it further along the distance markers than his earlier attempts.

It was just a bruised rib, so it wasn’t anything serious, but George hated the fact that it had been totally unnecessary.

That fucking cornerback from Abe Lincoln High School, again. George wished they didn’t play in the same state and the same division so they never had to see each other.

“Time.”

George straightened his back and shoulders. He shook his head clear of thoughts, but they came back again once the whistle went.

George knew every cornerback in every school looked out for him. And Coach had made him watch videos of all the other schools’ defensive plays so he could adapt to any sort of defensive play thrown his way.

There was always one cornerback that stood out to George.

He was strong, which came with the role, and wasn’t what bothered George. What bothered him was that he was also unnecessarily aggressive, and reckless, and violent. He liked to twist his shoulders at the last moment, so his shoulder and elbow dug sharply into the wide receiver’s chest and abdomen. His knocks took the fucking breath out of other people, and were hard enough to almost always bruise. But he always seemed to get his way.

George hated him.

He would always remember the deathly grip that cornerback had on him in the regional game he’d played in freshman year, that suffocating grasp around George’s waist and the subsequent slam into the ground that ensured George had to sit out training for the next week with a bruised elbow. A tackle that didn’t even count for anything in the end, because George had already tossed the ball to his teammate. It was like he had injured George just for the fun of it.

“Time.”

The coach calling out the end of each try pulled George back to reality like he’d just resurfaced from being underwater too long. He stood with his hands on his hips, trying to get his staggering breaths under control.

The whistle went, and George dove under again.

That game wasn’t going to be the last time George would see that cornerback.

In fact, it was only the first time of many other times afterwards. 

He never seemed to acknowledge George, even though they saw each other at games, camps, scrimmages, and tests. To be fair, George never acknowledged him, either, and instead just quietly fumed. 

It was in sophomore year, when Alex had to quit football due to an injury, that this hate intensified.

And when George found out that this cornerback was up for a UCLA scholarship – not just any UCLA scholarship, but what would turn out to be the UCLA scholarship that was George’s last chance – he didn’t see any option but to let this obsessive hate become central in his life, because it only came along with all the motivation he needed to finally secure this dream scholarship.

Every training session, every time George stepped onto the field or into the gym, he would be reminded of that cornerback and his death grip around George’s waist, and the pure anger and spite that drove George, and he would be reminded of what he was playing for. 

To break free of that cornerback’s grasp, both physically and mentally, on his entire being.

The sight of that bright orange jersey had always infuriated George to no end, because they were his school’s biggest rivals throughout their history. 

But the sight of it with the number 3 and the name Ricciardo on the back made George seethe with rage and pure fury course through his veins every single time.

Something seemed to snap within George, and he suddenly lost all his strength, and along with it his footing and his grip on the floor. The resistance band retracted to its original width, taking George with it so he flew backwards and slammed against the cushioned wall before landing on the floor.

The coach at his station was crouching next to him almost instantly, as well as a handful of other coaches from the neighbouring stations. They were all speaking to him at once, holding his shoulders and his head and asking him if he felt alright, but all George could muster in that moment was a weak, “It’s Daniel.”

No one understood him, evidently. 

He was brought to the medic room in a daze, and quickly checked by a doctor before being sat down on a bed with a protein bar, an energy drink, and a hot chocolate to accompany him. He didn’t touch any of them.

All he could think of was the feeling of the resistance band around his waist, the feeling of almost being broken in half as he strained against it like a cornerback’s grasp – a feeling that was so familiar, it brought back all these memories George hadn’t known he’d been suppressing.

He remembered all of it so clearly now, but…it still wasn’t clear enough to him.

Daniel was his friend.

And he liked Daniel. He loved being with Daniel and seeing him smile and laughing with him. He adored Daniel’s endless curls and the way his hands moved when he spoke, like a little Lego man. And he’d even almost kissed Daniel the other day in the treehouse.

And all of that was…just a mistake?

George was beginning to wonder if his concussion was much more serious than anyone had picked up.

But Alex…he had to know all of this, right? There was no way Alex didn’t know. Why didn’t he tell George?

George’s head began to throb. He tried standing up, but was overcome yet again with dizziness, so he sat down and picked up that protein bar he’d been offered earlier.

He was halfway through it when a familiar face appeared in the doorway.

Daniel.

“Hey,” he said softly, wandering inside and sitting down next to George. “I heard from my coach about what happened. Are you okay?”

The sight of him and the sound of his voice placed such a confusing mixture of feelings in George’s chest that he almost got up and ran out of the room.

Instead, he just nodded, hoping that Daniel couldn’t see how hard he was clutching on to his protein bar.

“Did you hurt yourself? Does your head hurt?” Daniel reached over to cup George’s cheek, but George recoiled instinctively, leaving Daniel’s hand hovering in the air.

The look of surprise and disappointment that crossed Daniel’s eyes was something George wished he could erase from his memory.

He felt like a stranger. 

George might have been less than an inch away from kissing Daniel that night, and he might have spent every night since then wishing that he had done it, but right then – Daniel felt like a stranger.

George…

George had so many things to say, so many things to ask, but no words to put them in.

He just wanted to go home and sleep, and maybe he’d wake up and all of this would have just been a very realistic, Inception-esque dream.

“I’m okay,” he eventually managed to whisper.

Daniel looked so desolate and confused in that moment, his hand falling back to his side quietly, that George could almost cry. His curls were still shiny with sweat, and George wanted nothing more than to run his fingers through them. 

He never, ever wanted to see Daniel sad that way.

“Hey, buddy.” George turned to the door, and his dad was standing there, hands in his pockets. “Are you alright to walk to the car? Let’s go home and get some rest. The nurse says you can leave.”

George nodded. “Dad, this is my…” Was he a friend? George didn’t even know anymore. “This is Daniel.”

“Hey, Daniel.” Dad grinned his way. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Daniel seemed delighted at the thought. “Hi, Mr Russell.”

“I…I don’t think we can have lunch today,” George told him. “Sorry.”

“Some other time,” Daniel suggested.

“Yeah.”

Dad held out his hand for George as George stood up and walked towards the door, like he was three years old again and waddling into his arms.

“Will you text me?”

George turned around, and Daniel was just standing there, his hands nervously clasped together.

He wasn’t sure if he would. If he could .

He nodded, anyway, and didn’t look back again, afraid he would crumble under the weight of Daniel’s worried gaze.

Dad had his test scorecard for some reason, and they dropped it off with Coach before heading home. At first glance, George didn’t seem to have done too badly. 

If that was the only good thing to have come out of that day, then George just had to accept it.

------

George didn’t text Daniel again after that day.

Daniel felt so pathetic, sitting and waiting all day for George to text. It wasn’t even that he was being possessive over George or anything. He just wanted to know that George was okay, and he wanted to listen to George go on a long ramble about something he learned that week in school, and he wanted to at least have a semblance of an idea of when he could possibly get the chance to see George again.

He contemplated texting George’s friends – Pierre, specifically, who was the only one whose number Daniel had, because he seemed to absolutely love seeing Daniel and George hang out for some reason, and would always try to come up with silly little reasons for them to ask each other out. 

He told Max about it, and Max thought it was silly that he was thinking of texting Pierre instead of George himself. 

“If he ignores my text, then I’m just going to feel worse,” Daniel tried explaining.

“If he ignores your text, then I’m personally driving to Hilltop to make him reply.”

Daniel laughed. He recalled what Max had said when Daniel first told him about George. 

“No need,” he said. “I’ll just text Pierre.”

Max gave a dissatisfied grunt. Daniel took his phone out again.

< Hey Pierre
< How has George been lately?

> He’s alright
> Training
> Why?

< Nothing
< He said he would text me but he hasn’t
< I thought maybe something came up

> Why don’t you text him?

Daniel sighed. Max looked over curiously, and Daniel showed him the conversation.

“Told ya,” was all he said before he returned to his math notes.

< When do you think he might be free?
< Maybe I’ll go by for a visit

The memory of George’s face, pale in some kind of shock and with the most painful confusion written all over it, was something Daniel would never forget.

He wasn’t sure if he could live with seeing it again, but…

Something must’ve happened, and Daniel wanted to figure out what.

> Actually
> I’m having a sleepover this weekend
> It’s my birthday, and next week it’s George’s
> If you want, you can come with Lando

< Will George know?
< I don’t want to go if he doesn’t want me there

> I’ll ask him
> Don’t worry

< Can I bring another friend?
< His name is Max

> Sure
> I’ll text you again

“Do you want to go to a sleepover with me?” Daniel asked Max.

“With who?”

“George’s friends.”

“Will I get to meet George?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, then I’ll go.” 

“Don’t be mean to him.”

“Mhm.” There was a slight mischievousness to Max’s voice that made Daniel smile, despite it all.

*

Although he hadn’t texted Daniel even once, George seemed to be completely okay with Daniel and his friends going to attend what was looking to be his and Pierre’s birthday celebrations. Or at least, that was what Pierre told Daniel.

Given Pierre’s constant eagerness to dig out the lamest excuses imaginable for George and Daniel to hang out, as if he was a matchmaker trying to pair them up, Daniel really wasn’t sure if he could completely trust Pierre when he said George didn’t mind if Daniel was at the sleepover.

So he texted Alex to ask, and Alex told him the same, and Alex looked incapable of ever telling a lie despite his past with Daniel, so Daniel dragged Lando and Max along with him that weekend to Cherry Creek.

The three of them had chipped in to buy a present each for Pierre and George, but Daniel got another one on his own specially for George.

Pierre’s house was a big mansion on a quiet street, and his four brothers were all away at college or had moved out, so it was just his parents, who greeted Daniel and his friends but otherwise stayed out of the living room, where everyone was gathered.

George gave Daniel a big smile and a wave, as if nothing had happened between them that day in the doctor’s office. He took his present from the three of them, but Daniel decided to save his personal present for when they had a moment alone.

There didn’t seem to be anyone else that Daniel hadn’t met yet; it looked like Pierre liked to keep his friend circle small, though sometimes the way he behaved suggested otherwise. They went to the kitchen for a bit to get some snacks, and Lando and Max didn’t appear to have functioning fingers, so Daniel was busy helping them open a bag of microwaved popcorn when George appeared next to him, his hand encircling Daniel’s elbow.

“Hey,” he said softly.

“Hey.” Daniel grinned at him, and his smile softened. “Max, it’s George.”

“I know, I already met him earlier,” Max said distractedly, focused on ensuring Lando didn’t spill the bag of popcorn all over the floor.

“Don’t be mean.”

Max tutted and turned around. “Hi again, George.”

“Hi,” George said.

“He’s very mean that way,” Daniel explained as George led him back outside to the couch. “But he’s my best friend.”

“Pierre will like him then.”

Daniel thought so too. They settled on the couch, just the two of them, as Pierre and Alex crouched in front of the TV trying to decide which movie to watch. George handed Daniel one of the fruit cups that had been sitting on the table.

“I’m sorry I didn’t text.” His voice was low, like he didn’t want anyone else to hear. “I…um, I was just dealing with…some stuff.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not – not yet.”

“Okay. But if you do…I’m here, yeah?”

George nodded. He quietly ate his watermelon chunks next to Daniel until three boxes of pizza arrived and everyone gathered in the living room for the movie that Pierre and Alex had decided on. Daniel noticed Lando lagging behind as Charles spoke excitedly about something to Max, who had a half-amused smile on his face.

“Don’t bully him,” Daniel told Max as they sat down. Charles seemed a little…empty-brained, and Daniel thought, given the way Max was, it was easy for him to be a pushover. The fact that he was the first person out of all of George’s friends that Max warmed up to made total sense and was frankly quite hilarious.

“I’m not. I think he’s funny.”

Daniel rolled his eyes. He turned to George, who gave him another smile.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “Charles may be a little stupid but he’s no pushover.”

Daniel was just…so enchanted by the way he spoke and the way he smiled, and for no reason he could think of.

The movie was some comedy that was almost outshadowed by everyone’s loud laughter and discussion. Daniel didn’t remember what it was about. 

All he remembered was George sitting quietly next to him, the smallest smile on his face as he occasionally glanced shyly at Daniel, and the weight of his hand when it found its way to Daniel’s hand halfway through the movie.

He was just so, so relieved that everything was okay between them. 

After the movie there was cake, followed by some video games, which Pierre demanded that Daniel team up with George for. It was loud, but Daniel imagined that the house was big enough for Pierre’s parents not to be bothered. George still seemed a little more subdued than usual, and Daniel felt bad that everyone was just egging him on even though he looked like he wasn’t in any mood. He waited patiently for the chance to talk to George again. 

“Let’s play something else,” Pierre said, once everyone and their thumbs were tired out. “Oh, let’s play truth or dare!”

He was the host and the birthday boy, so no one was willing to suggest otherwise. In fact, everyone seemed to think it would be fun, for some reason or another. 

“Is everyone always this chaotic?” Daniel asked as George sat down on the floor next to him. 

George laughed. Daniel wanted to capture the sound in a little jar. “Tell me about it.”

An old glass bottle was placed in the middle of the circle, and Daniel was thankfully out of its grasp for the first forty minutes or so, and adequately entertained by everyone else’s stories. Pierre was dared by Lando to catch one of the frogs lurking in the backyard gutters and take a photo with it before releasing it, which he completed flawlessly and proceeded to dare Charles to cycle shirtless – in the heart of winter, no less – to the closest store to get them some potato chips. Max filmed a video of him leaving and coming back, and the difference in Charles’s facial expressions was honestly one of the funniest things Daniel had seen in his life.

It was quite comforting to see Max and Lando slot in so nicely, because Daniel hoped he could keep this bunch of people around for a long time, and it was just as important to him that Max and Lando got along with them.

The bottle eventually landed on George, who gave a dramatic roll of the eyes before saying, “Truth.”

The biggest, most shit-eating grin crossed Pierre’s face, and Daniel considered George unlucky to have his turn right after Pierre’s.

“Do you have a crush on Daniel?”

The softest gasp escaped George’s lips, before he narrowed his eyes at Pierre. He didn’t turn to Daniel, though Daniel saw the tip of his ear start to turn red. 

“I change my mind,” he said. “I choose dare.”

“You’re not allow–” Charles started to interject, but was very quickly interrupted by a swift backhand to the chest from Pierre.

“I dare you to kiss Daniel on the lips.”

A hush fell upon the room, the loudest hush Daniel had ever heard. George’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously, then turned to Daniel.

His gaze landed on Daniel’s lips first, but when it raised to meet Daniel’s, Daniel hoped he could hear what Daniel was trying to tell him. 

We don’t have to. I want to, but we don’t have to.

The way his eyes darted back down and up again made Daniel doubt it, but when he leaned closer to Daniel, supporting himself with his palms on the floor, Daniel could hear his answer. 

I want to.

In that brief, tense moment that their lips touched, Daniel felt his soul leave his body.

It was certainly different from that night when they were in the treehouse – there were literally five other people staring at them, for one – but the feeling it placed in Daniel’s jumping heart was the same. 

He wished their tiny little moment wouldn’t end, and he wished their first kiss would’ve been in different circumstances, and he wished that they had the chance to do it all over again.

If there was any consolation to Daniel, the assertive yet comforting way George squeezed his wrist before letting go and pulling away, the blush on his cheeks and the tip of his nose, and his hooded eyes still fixated on Daniel’s lips all told Daniel that he felt the same.

The silence became deafening for a few seconds before George cleared his throat. “Okay,” he said shakily as he reached for the bottle to spin it.

He only spoke to dish his question out to Max, then sat quietly for the rest of the game, hugging his legs to himself. Even when Daniel was made to retell one of his most embarrassing middle school stories, all he did was give a little smile. 

Daniel sat next to him, fruitlessly willing his wildly beating heart to calm down as he continued waiting patiently for when he could have George alone to himself.

------

George saw the way everyone was spread out on the living room couches dozing off as a chance to finally escape and have some time alone with his head.

There was a pendulum by the window in one of Pierre’s study rooms upstairs that always calmed George down, so he sat down in the dark room and watched it go until his heart matched its speed and he could breathe again.

He took some time splashing water on his face in the bathroom before heading downstairs with his t-shirt splattered with water.

Alex, Pierre, and Charles were all cuddled up along one couch, Alex holding Pierre from behind in some sort of stranglehold that didn’t look comfortable but yet seemed adequate for Pierre to sleep in and necessary to get him to calm the fuck down and stop ruining other people’s lives. Alongside them was Charles, who had his arms wrapped around Pierre’s calves and his cheek pressed on Alex’s like a pillow. They were all probably tired out from that day’s shenanigans and in the deepest sleep of their lives.

The sight of his three best friends in the world looking so comfortable and peaceful put a sort of irrepressible warmth in George’s heart. They might all tease him to no end on a daily basis, but George loved them more than anyone else in the world, and he was so grateful that he got to experience life with them. Especially when they were all asleep like that and couldn’t bother him.

On the couch next to theirs was Max and Lando, who weren’t pressed up against each other as much as the other three, but still sleeping on each other’s shoulders. George tucked a blanket around them and they murmured something he couldn’t understand.

“Hey,” a soft voice sounded from behind George, and he turned around to see Daniel emerging from the kitchen with a bag of salt and vinegar chips. He was wearing that light blue hoodie that he had borrowed from George and looked to have no intention of returning, and he looked like an angel emerging from the darkness, and George couldn’t help his smile.

“Hey,” he said. “You gonna sleep?”

Daniel shook his head. “D’you…wanna go outside for a bit?”

It was cold outside, but there was a heating lamp on the back porch. They made themselves a mug of hot chocolate each and sat down on a long wooden bench together. 

“How have you been?” George asked.

“I’ve been alright,” Daniel said. “Um…Pierre told me your birthday is next week?”

“Yeah. The fifteenth.”

“I got you something.” Daniel pulled a small green box out of his pocket. 

“You already got me something.”

“No, that one is from the three of us. This one is just from me. Happy birthday.”

George opened the box, and inside was a keychain with charms in the shape of the All-City Stadium and a football. Attached to it were two more charms, one orange and white and the other white and teal, both in the shapes of Daniel and George’s football jerseys, without the numbers. 

“It’s where we first officially met,” Daniel explained. “And what we were doing, playing football. And our shirts.”

George smiled. It looked custom-made, and very thoughtful. “Thank you. It’s really nice.”

“I just, you know…thought it’d be something cool to represent us. And…I’m sorry that I hurt you that day, but…it means a lot to me. That day. ‘Cause I met you, and…yeah.”

“I love it.” George turned the charms around in his palm. They reflected the light from the lamp above them beautifully. “Yeah. That day…it means a lot to me, too.”

There were still so many questions George had about that day; in some way, it almost seemed like that day had been a key moment, a key divider of sorts in George’s life. Everything since then had been ‘before Daniel’ or ‘after Daniel’, as opposed to before or after the accident.

George just wished he had a better idea of what ‘before Daniel’ actually meant. If it really was…before George had known Daniel.

He turned to the side, and Daniel was watching him, his eyes bright under the dim light. 

And George decided, at least for the moment, that it wasn’t really that important.

He placed the box down next to him and put his hand over Daniel’s. Daniel’s response was to lean in, as if he was thinking the exact same thing George was.

This time, as the tips of their noses met, there was no garden gate slamming shut, and no curious eyes of their five best friends.

It was just the two of them, which was George’s favourite place to be.

“Can we pretend that we didn’t kiss earlier,” Daniel whispered, his breath warm against George’s lips. “So we can have our first kiss again, all to ourselves?”

George nodded. 

Daniel’s lips were just as soft as they had been a couple hours earlier, but this time they were braver. One of his hands curled around George’s bicep and the other cupped George’s cheek, and suddenly all the work George had done with the pendulum to slow his heart down seemed meaningless. 

There was a deep blush hanging on Daniel’s cheeks when they pulled apart, and the way he smiled seemed to emphasise it. He pressed his head against George’s as a giggle escaped his lips. 

George found enough courage to close the gap between them again and press another kiss to Daniel’s lips. 

He carded his fingers through Daniel’s hair, and the way Daniel keened into his grasp like a puppy made him smile. George had been itching to do that for weeks and weeks, itching to touch Daniel’s curls and feel them between his fingers. 

“Are we okay?” Daniel whispered.

“Yeah.” George let his hand fall on Daniel’s shoulder. “Does this mean we’re…”

“Dating?” Daniel’s grin lit up the whole backyard. “What…um, do you want that?”

George didn’t know. If the past week or so had taught him anything, it was that there was more to his and Daniel’s relationship than met the eye. And that he…really didn’t know Daniel at all. But he gave Daniel’s hand a squeeze, and Daniel seemed to take it as a yes.

“Daniel. Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah?”

“Did we know each other?” George asked. “Before the final.”

“I don’t know.” Daniel was quiet again. “I don’t…notice other people. You know? I like to focus on myself, like I told you. I knew who you were, of course. Everyone knows who you are. But I don’t think I… knew you. And even if I knew you, you were probably just another wide receiver to me, and not really George. Not to sound rude.”

“Yeah.”

“But…maybe you knew me. I don’t know about that. I don’t think I’d ever spoken to you before that day, though.” Daniel fidgeted nervously. “Why? Do you think…maybe you knew me?” He sounded concerned. “Did you…forget something when you hit your head?”

“I don’t think so.” George sighed. “Anyway, have you heard from UCLA?”

George didn’t think about the words before they came out of his mouth, as if they had been the most natural thing to say. As if he’d just uttered them on instinct. As if a part of him knew to ask Daniel, a part of him knew that Daniel would have an answer.

He did. “Not yet. Have you?”

George shook his head. He gulped down his surprise and his fear and his confusion, and the inevitable anxiety that came with the scholarship outcome still being unknown. He searched his mind for anything Alex or anyone else told him since his concussion, but he found nothing to indicate to him how he’d known that Daniel was up for that same scholarship even though they hadn’t known each other before. 

“What do you mean?” Daniel asked, making George realise he’d said that last part aloud. “George, what’s wrong? You’ve been a little…off. Is it something with your injury? Did you hurt yourself? Is it your head? Should we go to the hospital?”

George shook his head again. The way Daniel was so flustered about it would’ve been absolutely endearing if it hadn’t made George feel so guilty. “I’m fine. Just…going through some stuff, like I told you.”

“Like what kinda stuff?”

“Stuff from…before. Before the incident. I just…keep feeling like there’s something I’m missing.”

“Have you talked to your friends about it?”

“No, but –” George sighed. “Alex…Alex would tell me, right? If there’s anything wrong. I mean, Alex is my best friend in the entire world.” George realised that Daniel didn’t even really know Alex. “I mean…yeah. It’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?” Daniel hooked his arm in George’s and leaned his head on George’s shoulder, and just his proximity made George’s heart soar and the smile return to his face. He loved Daniel’s natural sense of affection. “Don’t forget me, okay?”

George turned to press a kiss on the top of Daniel’s head. “I won’t.”

“And…you know, I –” Daniel sounded hesitant to say the words. “If…about us. If you’ve changed your mind, or you want to take it slow, then…yeah. Just tell me.”

“I haven’t changed my mind.” The desperate speed at which George reacted was comical even to himself. “No, I…I like you. I have from the start. I – I hope that you know that.”

“I like you, too,” Daniel whispered. “Very much.”

“And I really want to kiss you again.”

Daniel turned his face up towards George, and he was smiling again like the moon in the sky, and George didn’t think his heart could take any more of Daniel’s beauty.

They spent what seemed like the shortest infinity just sitting there, kissing softly under the warm orange lamp. None of the others woke up, or at least none of them came outside to look for Daniel or George. Daniel’s hair was fluffy, and his hand was warm, and he was so comfortable in his hoodie, and George just wanted to sit there and hold him forever.

“I missed you,” Daniel eventually said, breathlessly, as they pulled apart. “I missed listening to you talk about all these random things I don’t even care about.”

George laughed. Daniel just…placed such a warm feeling in his heart. “Really? You don’t care?”

“Nah, you know I do, Georgie.” Daniel leaned his head on George’s shoulder again. “Don’t stop talking about them. I’m addicted.”

George pressed his cheek against Daniel’s soft curls. “Okay.”

“Talk to me about the stars again,” Daniel whispered.

So they sat there through the night, holding hands and talking about the stars in hushed voices like they were secrets the rest of the house couldn’t share, and George thought it was the most perfect first date he would ever have.

------

George didn’t think he would ever forget the moment he saw his best friend Alex being wheeled out of the emergency room with his shin broken in three different places.

He would never forget the absolute rage he felt, a rage so violent and powerful it could power the whole city of Denver by itself.

And though Alex took it with grace, though he told George that he was okay and that he didn’t care if he could never play football again, George decided that Alex was merely high on all the pain medication, and that he would never forgive the boy who did this to his Alex.

His name was Daniel. Daniel Ricciardo. And he was a cornerback for Abraham Lincoln High School.

They were GW High School’s biggest rivals, so George had played against him for the entirety of his high school life. George knew him from all the videos Coach had made him watch, and he knew him for his reputation as a hard tackler, but he had never spoken to the boy. And this accident guaranteed that George would never forget him ever again.

“It really doesn’t matter to me,” Alex told George after yet another one of George’s long ramblings about how much he hated Daniel. “It’s always been just a hobby to me. It doesn’t mean as much to me as it means to you.”

“I just can’t believe it!” George exclaimed. “What the fuck did he think he was doing? What the fuck is he always doing? I don’t get it. I really don’t!”

“George. It’s just a game.”

“Not to me.”

“He’s never done anything to you. You’ve never even spoken to him.”

“It’s just unfair. It’s unfair how he always get his way.” George’s blood was boiling simply at the thought. “I would kill him if I could.”

Alex actually started laughing right then, as if the thought of it amused him to no end. “George, don’t do that.”

“How are you so calm about this? Alex, this is not right. It’s not right.”

“I don’t know what to tell you. If this is all because you feel the need to avenge me, then I’m telling you you don’t need to.”

“It’s not just that. It’s everything he does. This is just the cherry on top.”

“Sometimes you just can’t stop other people from doing what they want to achieve their dreams, okay?” Alex’s voice was as gentle as always, but firm. “And there’s nothing in the rule books to say what he’s doing is wrong, anyway, and you know that, George.”

George found nothing to say in response to that. So he just quietly seethed in rage as he walked Alex home in his crutches and put him in bed in his makeshift first floor bedroom. 

Then he went home and sat in his bed surrounded by a red halo of rage as he made a list of everything Daniel had ever done to offend him and all the ways he would get back at him if he had the chance.

George was caked in a sticky layer of sweat as he shot awake in bed, panting heavily. 

It wasn’t a dream, that was one thing he was completely sure of. It wasn’t a dream.

It was a memory.

George took a cold shower to rid himself of the feeling of dread, but returned to his room with his hands still shaking too hard to type a text to Alex.

It was probably for the best. The clock told George it was a little past four in the morning.

He tried to go back to sleep, but when he closed his eyes, the visions came back.

Daniel Ricciardo. Number 3. Abraham Lincoln High School.

George followed his progress in the off-season that sophomore year and the championships in junior year. They did a clean sweep in all the pre-season scrimmages and sectionals, as did George’s school. George lost out on the first UCLA scholarship in that season’s regional game, but he met Daniel’s team in the semi-state final, where they beat George’s school.

George was inconsolable that night.

It wasn’t so much that he lost, because it was a sport and there would be winners and losers, anyway.

It was the fact that they had to lose to Lincoln, and to Daniel, of all people.

It just made George angrier and angrier as the weeks progressed and Alex was no longer there to train with him and win trophies with him.

George decided to get out of bed and go for a jog, because the room was beginning to suffocate him, along with all the newfound memories of himself sitting in that very spot plotting how he was going to take Daniel down.

The neighbourhood hadn’t awoken yet, so the streets were dark and empty as George vented his frustrations on them. He ran as fast as he could, feeling the acid pile up in his calves and the wind whip violently through his hair.

UCLA had one or two football scholarships up for grabs per position, depending on their needs each year. In junior year, George had been up for a wide receiver position in the Bruins.

Daniel had been up for the same scholarship to be their cornerback.

With the irksome thought that he and Daniel could possibly be teammates in the future shoved to the very back of his mind, George fought for his life in that regional game in which he was scouted, only to lose the scholarship to Lewis the next day.

It was disappointing, but George found out a few days later that Daniel hadn’t gotten his scholarship, either, and that the cornerback scholarship had gone to someone from another school.

Retrospectively, it was a bit petty, but to George, it was the best thing to have come out of that shitty week.

George pressed on with his exhausted legs, wishing that these memories would at least come back in the right order so he wouldn’t be left trying to piece them together the correct way.

The jog didn’t help in any way. George walked the last mile or so home, dripping sweat.

He took another shower, and by the time he came out, it was time for breakfast. 

He decided to cycle to school that morning instead of taking the bus or have his dad drive him, trusting that he could do it on three hours of sleep. He left the house thirty minutes before he usually did, and his legs, already overused three times over that morning, brought him to school almost forty minutes before the first bell rang.

George sat on a bench next to the bicycle racks and took out his notebook.

He started writing down all the memories he had so far, like they were scenes in a movie that he was trying to piece together in one linear timeline.

True to form, the first thing Alex did when George told him he was going up directly against Daniel as the two final candidates for the wildcard UCLA scholarship was to laugh.

George didn’t think it was that funny. He still wasn’t over the shock of Coach telling him this news.

“Well, think about it like this,” Alex said once he’d managed to stop laughing so hard. “At least this means you’ll most likely not be teammates with him. And that’s good. Right?”

George huffed. “I guess so.”

“If you weren’t so obsessed with him, this wouldn’t be so much of a problem.”

George repeated that in a mocking tone, and Alex smacked him in the face before scurrying away with his healed shin.

It could literally have been anyone else. Anyone else at all throughout Denver, or Colorado, or the entire United States.

But it was Daniel. 

And George was determined to win this battle.

“Hey.” George snapped back to reality and found Alex sitting next to him. “Did you forget your chemistry homework?”

George glanced down at his notebook. The little chunks of text he’d written joined together by loose lines did look like something out of his chemistry notes. “No,” he said, closing the page.

“Didn’t think so, nerd.” Alex dragged him to his feet as the five-minute bell rang. 

George got through first and second period without really registering anything. He had a free period before gym, which he spent sitting quietly with his notebook while Alex went off looking for Pierre.

He brought Pierre back with him for gym class, and when he changed into his gym shorts George saw all the scars on his left leg, and he felt so horrible for not thinking of this earlier.

He didn’t need to do it. George remembered the scene exactly as it had played out.

Just like the time Daniel had given George a bruised elbow even though George had already passed the ball, it was a needless tackle.

Which only made it all the more infuriating.

George took it as another argument on his side that Daniel was playing unfairly, but he was told yet again by Coach to suck it up because it was just the nature of football.

“I know what the nature of football is.” It wasn’t as if George hadn’t been playing for years. “And it’s not this…brutal injustice.”

He didn’t need to do it. Everything else Daniel had ever done, George could afford to look past. But the tackle on Alex was unnecessary, and didn’t change the outcome of the play, and that was what George couldn’t put down, because there had been no reason for all of this to happen.

Despite what Alex said, George didn’t think he could ever forgive the boy who ruined his best friend’s life. 

“George.” Gym class had ended without George noticing, and Alex was walking with him down the hallway towards the cafeteria.

“Yeah?”

Alex was quiet for a bit until they parted ways with Pierre, who had another period before lunch. Then he turned to George again, and asked, “Are you okay? You seem a little distracted today.”

“I’m okay.” George felt this strange…sense of dismay when he looked at Alex. When he thought of how Alex had kept all of this from George for whatever reason that was apparently more important to him than the trust in their friendship. “I…didn’t really sleep well.”

“Really? Just that?” Alex bumped George’s shoulder with his own. “What’s going on? Tell me.”

And George…

George really appreciated that he’d waited until Pierre had left before asking, because he started tearing in the middle of the hallway and if Pierre had been there, George would never have lived it down.

Alex quietly brought him to the lunch line and then outside once they’d collected their food. He sat George down at one of the furthest benches and asked, “Will you tell me what’s wrong?”

George picked at his bland rice for a while, not sure where to start.

“Did I know Daniel before?” he eventually asked. “You know, before…he knocked me out.”

“No,” Alex said after the slightest pause. George couldn’t even be mad that he was lying, because he guessed that was mostly true.

“Why won’t you tell me the truth?” George didn’t mean to raise his voice, but he saw a group of students sitting a distance away turn to look at them. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”

Alex was quiet again then, looking down at his tray but not touching his food. 

“Did I use to hate him?” 

Alex looked up at George, worry and hesitation in his gaze. “Yeah,” he said softly, like he was afraid George was going to have another outburst. “You…you hated him very, very much.”

“Because he hurt you?”

“Because of many things. You hated him because you thought he was needlessly violent and you thought that he shouldn’t have been playing football at all. And then he broke my leg, and it just got worse. You were obsessed with him, George. You followed his every move and you wished he would fail. He never even knew you, never even spoke to you.”

“But how did I forget about all of that?” George wiped his tears so they wouldn’t fall into his food. “It seems…like such a big thing. How did I forget it?”

“I don’t know,” Alex said, earnestly even though he still looked a bit apprehensive. “But when you woke up and you saw Daniel and you didn’t immediately punch him, I…I thought that was so cool. You looked so at peace and so relaxed, and all the stress you’d been through for the past year…it was just all gone. I couldn’t bear to ruin that. I’ve never held a grudge towards Daniel and I never saw him the way you did and I was so glad that you were so nice to him and you wanted to be friends with him. And I was so surprised that I ran straight to your parents and to the doctor to ask them if something was horribly wrong with you but the doctor told me that it would be alright and that we should let you regain your memories by yourself instead of forcing them on you.”

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

“I don’t know,” Alex whispered. He sounded completely honest. “I just like seeing you this happy.”

George sighed. Now that he’d had time to think about it and see Alex’s reaction to it all, he guessed that if Alex had told him right away at the hospital, if he’d let all the memories flood George immediately after waking up, then maybe George would’ve never recovered from that psychological stress. Alex had done all he could to keep George calm.

“I…” was all George found himself being able to say.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m just so confused,” George sobbed. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

“Do you like him?” Alex asked. “You really like him, right?”

If all his memories about Daniel had taught George something, it was that Daniel had never once done anything in his life that deserved George giving their friendship a chance, much less an entire romantic relationship.

“Yeah,” he found himself saying, anyway.

“I think that’s most important. That you’re happier now than you were before.” Alex’s voice was still quiet, but when George looked at him, he had the smallest smile on his face. “And that it’s not just something that could’ve been. It’s something…you can actually have.”

“I am happy. But I –” George sighed. “I remember that feeling now. And it’s – it’s so horrible, and it keeps trying to slowly eat away at the happiness, but…”

“I’m sorry, George.”

George shook his head. “Alex. If you’d told me,” he sobbed. “If you’d told me, then I wouldn’t have fallen for him. And all of this wouldn’t matter because it wouldn’t have happened. If you’d told me, then I wouldn’t be feeling like shit right now.”

Alex didn’t have any response to that except to apologise again.

George turned his attention back to his tray of food, but only managed a couple more bites before the bell rang.

“Are you mad at me?” Alex asked as they headed to their next class together.

“No.” George tried his hardest not to start crying again, because he was sure they would run into Pierre somewhere, and he would never see the end of it. “I mean…I guess it’s kinda cool that I got all that time with Daniel. Instead of – of going straight back to hating him again.”

“But you’re not going back to hating him again, are you?”

George shrugged. He needed some time to sort his feelings out.

“You’re really not mad at me?” Alex asked again.

“I’m not.” George might not have been sure of a whole host of his own feelings, but he was sure about that. He felt hurt and upset as to why Alex would do such a thing, but he knew he would get over those soon, and he wasn’t anywhere near mad. “I’m just – I understand what you were doing.”

“I knew I wouldn’t lose you.” Alex grinned as he wrapped an arm around George’s neck and squeezed him close. “And to be honest, I didn’t really have a game plan for after you found out. So, yeah.”

George couldn’t help but smile. “Just…don’t – you know, don’t set us up or anything. Okay? Just let me figure it out.”

“What about Pierre?”

“Don’t tell him. Let him do whatever he wants. I don’t want him nagging me.”

“Okay. He’s been doing his very best coming up with evil plans to push you two together.”

“Yeah, I realised.” George expected nothing less from Pierre.

Alex smiled. “George. I just want to tell you that it’s so, so nice to see you this happy. You were never so happy before. You were always bothered about one thing or another, about football, about Daniel, about everything. I’m just really happy to see you like this. And I think being friends with Daniel is a big part of it.”

George hadn’t told anyone in detail about that night he and Daniel had shared in Pierre’s backyard, just a little to Alex about how they’d gone outside and spent the whole night talking. He was sure Alex had filled Pierre in. But he hesitated telling Alex more than that, especially now that George knew the truth. 

So friends they would remain for now.

“Thanks, Alex.”

George couldn’t bring himself to say much for the rest of the day, which was a bit strange to him, and apparently also to Alex, Charles, and Pierre. Training that day was a gym session, which George drifted through, and at the end of the day he walked home with his three best friends, savouring the last slivers of this feeling, this feeling he had never felt before but now understood as happiness.